Card mounting means for horizontally mounted doors of filing cabinets and the like



April 28, 1959 F. s. Foo'rE, JR.. ET AL 2,884,295

CARD MOUNTING MEANS Foa HORIZONTALLY MOUNTED nooRs oF FILING lCBINETSAND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 25, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENIOR. FRANC/5 S.FOUTE', Jl?.

W7 1 Mmmm ,drm/PNE Y `April 28, 1959l s Foo-r JR AL 2,884,295

v F. E, ET CARD MOUNTING MEANS FOR HORIZONTALLY MOUNTED DOORS OF FILINGCABINETS AND THE LIKE Filled Nov. 25, 1957- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.FRANC/5 S. FOOTE, Jl?. HARRY W. LE CLA/RE ATTORNEY United States PatentO CARD MOUNTING MEANS FOR HORIZONTALLY MGUlIJ'iIE) DOORS 0F FILINGCABINEIS AND Francis S. Foote, Jr., Berkeley, and Harry W. Le Claire,Atherton, Calif., assignors to Tab Products Co., San Francisco, Calif.,a corporation of California Application November 25, 1957, Serial No.698,473 2 Claims. (Cl. S12-234.1)

in rows perpendicularly to a wall as in conventional drawer filing.

Filing cabinets of the character described are finding widespread andincreasing acceptance because of certain space advantages. Thus,conventional drawer typeling cabinets require drawers of considerabledepth, that is to say, drawers which are quite long from front to rear.For example, in a conventional legal tile, the depth of the file isabout 28". Therefore, the file must project inwardly into a room inexcess of 28". Also, a working space must be left in front of a file ofthis character to allow pulling out a file drawer -to its maximumextent, and to allow room for a person working on a file.

Shelf type filing cabinets overcome this disadvantage because Ithe filesare spread out laterally, parallel to a wall, rather than being arrangedin rows which extend perpendicularly to a wall.

However, shelf type filing cabinets have several disadvantages. Thus, itis frequently desired lto equip such cabinets with doors or frontcovers. To be completely satisfactory such doors must be retractable.Often times a customer will purchase a set of open filing cabinets andwill later wish to equip them with doors. This presents a particularlydifficult problem because it is more difiicult to mount doors after thecabinets have left the factory. The doors provided should be sturdy andshould operate smoothly. Careless handling of doors mus-t be allowedfor.

An improved means of mounting doors of shelf type filing cabinets isdescribed and claimed in a divisional application, Serial No. 768,726,filed October 2l, 1958, entitled Door Mounting for Filing Cabinet.

The present invention is directed to an improved means for mountingidentificationcards on the doors of shelf type filing cabinets.

In filing cabinets of the character described wherein files aresupported on shelves, it is desirable to mount the doors of the shelvesso they can swing about a horizontal axis between a vertical, closedposition and a horizontal open position, and so they can be pushed infrom their horizontal, open position to a retracted position. When it isdesired Ito close such a door, it will be pulled out and then swungdown.

In doors of this character a problem exists in mounting identificationcards on the doors to indicate the nature of the contents. If an outsidepocket or holder is employed it is disadvantageous because it protrudesand is., among other things, likely to catch on clothing. If the cardholder is mounted on the inside of a door and requires access from therear, it is difficult to insert and remove an identification card.Unlike a vertically hung door (whose rear surface is easily accessiblewhen the door is open) the rear surface of a horizontally hung door isdiiiicultly accessible even when the door is open.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved shelf type filingcabinets.

It is a particular object of the invtntion to provide shelf type filingcabinets having horizontally mounted, retractable doors in which animproved mounting means is provided for mounting identification cards.

It is a further particular object of the invention to provide a cardmounting means for horizontally mounted doors which are situated on 'theinner surface of a door, yet which are accessible from the front surfacefor insertion and removal of identification cards and the like.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from theensuing description and the appended claims.

One form of the invention is illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a shelf type filing cabinetconstructed in accordance with the invention and having retractabledoors which are equipped with the novel card mounting means of theinvention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of one of theretractable doors of the cabinet of Figure l showing our novel meansemployed to mount an identitication card.

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken along the line 9-9 of Figure 8showing the mounting means of Figure 8 in end elevation.

Referring now to the drawings and first to Figure l a filing cabinet isthere shown and is generally designated by the reference numeral 10. l-tcomprises a top 11, two side walls 12, a rear wall 13, a base 14,divider elements 15, shelves 16 and retractable doors 17. Slots areshown at 26 for mounting the divider elements 15. Handles are show-n at57a for manipulating the doors 17. The doors are of the horizontallyswinging, retractable-extensible type which may be mounted by anysuitable means but preferably by the means described and claimed in ourdivisional application Serial No. 768,726.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, the novel card mounting means of thepresent invention is illustrated. As there shown, a generallyrectangular opening 70 is formed in the front face 55 of each door 17and a rim 71 is provided which is pressed inwardly along the lower rightside (as viewed in Figure 2) at 72, along the bottom. at 73 and alongthe upper left side at 74. These depressed areas 72, 73 and 74 abut theinner surface of the face 55 to which they are secured by means ofsoldering, welding or otherwise. It will, therefore, be apparent that apocket 75 is provided having open areas 76 at the top, 77 at the upperrigh-t and 78 at the lower left. It is an important advantage of thepocket 75 that it is accessible from the front of a door. Thus anidentification card such as shown at 79, which is rectangular and hasdimensions slightly greater than the opening 70, can be inserted fromthe front as follows: It is first rotated counterclockwise so that itslong sides (which are normally horizontal) are at an angle of about 45and it is inserted within the opening 70. The upper end of the rotatedcard will pass through the open spaces 76 and 77 of the pocket 75. Thecard is pushed up until its lowermost end (the lower left-hand corner)has cleared the bottom of the opening 70. The card is then rotated back45 to its normal position with its bottom edge resting on the depressedarea or ledge 73 and its side edges confined by the depressed areas 72and 74. By this means, it will be apparent, a card can be inserted andremoved without the necessity of reaching behind a door. Yet the pocket75 is entirely within the door and no outwardly projecting structure isrequired. Also the card is securely confined and `will not drop out withthe door 17 in anyof` its normal positionsjie., vertical and closed,horizontal and open or inclined.

It will, therefore, be apparent that a card mounting means has beenprovided which is especially useful in connection with tiling cabinetsand the like having horizpntally swinging doors, such mounting meansbeing accessible from the front of a door whose rear is diticultlyaccessible, such` means involving no projections from the front surface.

We c laim:

1. A door construction of the character described comprising a frontpanel having a generally rectangular opening to expose an identificationcard and a frame xed tothe inner surface of said panel to provide aholder for snch card, said frame having a bottom contact portion and twoen d contact portions in Contact with the inner face o f said panel andhaving two other end portions and a top portion spaced from such innerface, said contact portions being so arranged that a card can beinserted and removed from the front of the panel, without access to therear thereof, by rotating the card during insertion and removal, saidcontact portions serving to provide bottom support for and to preventendwise movement of an inserted card.

2. A cabinet construction of the character described comprising sidewalls and a door having a panel formed with a rectangular opening forexposing an identification card, means mounting said door on said sideWalls for rotation about a horizontal axis between a vertical, closedposition'and ahorizontal position and for-retraction within the cabinetand movement out of the cabinet when in horizontal position, and apocket for holding an identitication card, said pocket being in the formof a frame, being located in registry with said rectangular opening, andhaving contact portions in contact with the inner surface of said paneland noncontact portions spaced from such surface, said contact portionscomprising a bottom portion adjoining the bottom edao of Said openingand a lower side portion and an upper side portion adjacent the lowerpart of one side and the upper part of the other side, respectively, ofsaid opening; said noncontact portions permitting insertion and removalof a card from the front of the panel and without access to the rearthereof by rotating the card; said contact portions serving to confinean inserted card and to prevent dropping and endwise movement of suchcard.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 391,751Kinnear Oct. 23, 1888l 705,957 Osborn July 29, 1902 972,923 Ritter Oct.18, 1910 1,156,644 Vetter Oct. 12, 1915 1,474,424 Maxey Nov. 20, 19232,241,884 Noble May 13, 19741 i FOREIGN PATENTS 1,107,206 France Aug. 3,1955 1,110,373 France Oct. 12, 1955

